Chapter 3 #2
“Maybe that’s why you had to resort to what you did to get a woman to be your—” She stopped talking and glanced around to make sure that there was no one close by. Just to be safe she stood on tiptoe, bracing her hands against his broad shoulders and spoke it in his ear.
“—fiancée.”
He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her off balance so that she was supported by his body.
“I didn’t resort to anything devious to get you.”
Before she could think of a response, he kissed her, and even though she knew she should stop letting him end conversations by embracing her, she couldn’t.
No man kissed the way Gui did. Or at least no man had kissed her the way he did.
And he made her feel the opposite of what Christos had earlier.
He made her feel like she truly was a beautiful woman.
As soon as Kara reentered the ballroom, Courtney grabbed her hand. And she’d never been so glad to see her friend as she was in that moment.
“Pardon me, Count de Cuaron, but I need a word with Kara.”
Gui gave Kara a kiss and then let his hand drop away. But she wasn’t sure he was going to walk away until he said, “I will see you shortly.”
He bowed to Courtney before turning on his heel and striding away from them, disappearing into the well-shod crowd celebrating Tristan and Sheri’s wedding.
As soon as he was out of earshot Courtney said, “What is that all about? I didn’t think you even knew him.”
“Of course I know him. I said I did,” Kara said, regretting it more than ever.
“Yes, but you also said that you knew David Beckham.”
“Well, Rina does know him, and I met him once.”
“You’re not Rina.”
“No, I’m not,” she said, aware that she was letting the conversation go into that crazy land where she’d not have to talk about Gui.
Her lips still tingled and she didn’t want to dwell too much on the fact that, when he’d held her the last time, she hadn’t wanted him to let go.
“So what’s up with you and the Count? Emily heard someone talking in the bathroom about an engagement.”
“Oh my God.” She was going to be utterly humiliated if everyone was talking. There wasn’t going to be a graceful way for her to back out of the “engagement.” And no matter what the truth was, if the engagement ended, everyone would think Gui hadn’t wanted her.
“What? Is it true?” Courtney asked, and for once Kara had no answers.
Kara shook her head, unwilling to lie to her friend, but the truth…she really had no idea what it was at this moment. “I have no idea.”
“Um…Kara, dear, you really should know if you have a fiancé.”
“It’s complicated.” God, she had no idea how she was going to explain this. If she told her best friends that she wasn’t engaged and Gui had used her to make another woman jealous, they’d go after him. And if she said she was engaged…Heck, she wasn’t going to say that.
“Explain complicated,” Courtney said.
“He and I may or may not be engaged. We’re going to discuss it later.”
“Holy hell.”
“Courtney!”
“I think even Sister Rita Lynn would forgive me this once.”
“What would Sister Rita Lynn forgive?” Katie asked as she and Emily joined them.
“My saying holy hell. Kara here may or may not be engaged to the Count.”
“Don’t call him that,” Katie said with a little laugh. “All I can think of is the count from Sesame Street.”
“That sexy man reminds you of the Count?” Courtney asked.
“Enough, you two,” Emily said. “We need to focus on Kara and her fiancé. When did this happen?”
Kara shook her head. This was the part that was going to sound really strange to her friends. “Today.”
“The engagement happened today?” Courtney said. “Wow, I guess you really do know him.”
“Gui is impetuous,” Kara said, having absolutely no idea if that was usually true or not.
“Well if that’s the case then it’s only you that brings out that side of him,” Katie said.
“What do you know about him?”
She glanced around the ballroom then leaned in close to Kara. “See that woman over there—the beautiful one in the center of that group of men?”
“Yes,” Kara said. Elvira. The one who’d shaken Gui and called him querido. “Who is she?”
Katie glanced at Kara, and there was something in her gaze that warned Kara she might regret asking. “That’s the woman he’s rumored to have loved and lost. Elvira de Castillo y Perez…She’s married to Count Juan de Cuaron y Perez.”
“De Cuaron? Is he related to Gui?” Kara asked.
“They’re cousins by marriage,” Katie said. “Juan is related to the Enfanta of Spain—Gui’s sister-in-law.”
“So what does that woman have to do with Kara?” Emily asked.
“Yeah, so what if he loved her and lost her? Clearly that’s ancient history, right?” Courtney asked.
“It happened over ten years ago. Apparently Elvira tried to use jealousy to force Gui to marry her and he refused, so she married Juan.”
“Well, then there’s nothing to worry about there,” Kara said.
“I wouldn’t say so. Rumors are all over the Spanish Court and practically every court in Europe about Elvira and Gui. Seems marriage didn’t stop them from continuing their affair,” Katie said.
Katie worked for a European news network and was the host of a nightly celebrity show similar to the Ten Spot on E! She always knew the best gossip and usually was able to tell the truth from the rumors.
“Really?” Kara asked.
“That’s the rumor. The thing is, aside from Juan’s jealousy, no one else can substantiate anything about the alleged affair. His friends all say that Gui respects the bonds of marriage.”
“That’s something,” Courtney said.
“Yes, it is,” Kara agreed. But a part of her wondered if respecting the bonds of marriage was enough to keep Gui from the woman he’d loved and lost. Because she’d sensed there was more to him and Elvira than simply old friends when they’d talked on the dance floor.
She turned with the crowd to watch Gui at the mike, offering the wedding toast along with Christos, charming the crowd. He was eloquent and a tad romantic without being patronizing. The kind of man she’d dreamed of finding.
She glanced around the ballroom and knew the gap between her and Gui was literal.
He fit here in their social world the way she never had.
And now that she knew more of his past, she wondered what exactly he thought pretending to be engaged to her was going to accomplish.
Because Kara knew one thing with absolute certainty—she wasn’t the type of woman who’d make Elvira jealous.